Gun holster



Oct. 4, 1966 B. F. coeems, JR

GUN HOLSTER Filed Sept. 21,. 1964 INVENTIOR. Burton P. Coggms, Jr. BY

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,276,646 GUN HOLSTER Burton F. Coggins, Jr., P.0. Box 782, Elberton, Ga. Filed Sept. 21, 1964, Ser. No. 398,120 6 Claims. (Cl. 224-2) This invention relates to holsters for carrying pistols and the like, and is more particularly concerned with a holster that can be used either as a shoulder holster or as a hip holster.

In carrying a pistol, many people prefer that the holster for the gun be mounted on the hip and supported by a belt somewhat similar to the ordinary belt in a persons trousers; and, other people prefer that the gun be mounted adjacent the shoulder disposed substantially vertically with the butt in a downwardly directed position. Ordinarily, a separate strap arrangement must be provided for each different mounting position of the holster. For the different strap arrangements, separate buckles must be provided, which means that either a separate holster must be used for each mounting position, or several buckles must be permanently attached to the holster, some of which will not be used. The unused buckles are cumbersome and tend to become inadvertently engaged with various portions of the persons clothing, or with the gun as it is pulled from the holster. This is very undesirable and hazardous in addition to the fact that the extra buckles are very unsightly.

The holster of the present invention overcomes the above mentioned difficulties by providing a holster having loops for attaching all the buckles necessary for disposing the holster in any desired position; however, the buckles are so designed and constructed as to beremovable from the loops of the holster so that any buckles that are required can be attached to the holster, and any buckles not required can be removed from the holster.

In general terms, the device of the present invention includes a holster having two substantially triangular side pieces sewn together along that edge of the two triangular pieces which represents the hypotenuse of the triangular shapes. This method of stitching leaves a pair of openings between the two legs of the triangular shapes. The uppermost opening remains in a substantially open position while the front side opening remains in a substantially closed position. A step is provided to limit the inward movement of a gun, and spring means are included within the walls of the holster to hold a gun within the holster. There is a plurality of buckle attaching means, and a belt receiving means. The buckle attaching means allow the straps necessary for mounting the holster as a shoulder holster to be attached to the holster, while the belt receiving means allows the holster to be worn on the hip and supported by a belt around the wearers waist. The buckle to be attached to the holster of the present invention includes a removable post that can be received through the buckle receiving means to hold the buckle to the holster.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from consideration of the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, with portions broken away, of the holster having all of the belts attached thereto, the belts being broken away;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a buckle formed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the buckle shown in FIG. 2, the buckle being partially in cross-section.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, and to that embodiment of the invention here chosen by way of illustration, the device shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings 3,276,645 Patented Oct. 4, 1966 "ice includes a holster having a body 10 that is formed of two substantially triangular side pieces 13 and 13'. The side pieces 13 and 13 are fastened together to provide a straight front edge 15 and an upwardly and rearwardly slanted bottom edge that merges into the back of the body 10. The top 14 is open to receive a pistol therein; and, the corner 18 is rounded to receive the trigger guard of a pistol, while the bottom corner 16 is rounded to provide sufficient space for the muzzle of the pistol. The side pieces v13v and 13' are fastened together, as by sewing, along the slanted bottom edge and at each of the corners 16 and 18. The front edge 15 is not joined, but is held together by a spring which will be described later.

To limit the insertion of a gun into the holster, there is a muzzle stop 8 adjacent the slanted bottom. The muzzle stop 8 has a fiat upper surface that projects toward the open space within the holster sufficiently far to be engaged by a gun; and, the muzzle stop 8 is held in place by stitches 9 that pass through the side pieces 13 and 13' and through the muzzle stop 8.

To retain a pistol within the holster, there is a spring S that is formed of wire, and is sewn into the side pieces 13 and 13'. The spring S has a bight 17 adjacent the corner 18, and the two ends of the spring S pass across the holster through the top edges of the side pieces 13 and 13. At the front, top corner of the holster, the spring turns down ward to pass through the front edge 15 and terminate at 17', adjacent the bottom corner 16 of the body 10.

On the side pieces 13, there is an elongate loop 11 that is disposed transversely of the holster, and is adapted to receive a belt 12 thereunder transversely.

When the holster 10 is to be worn as a shoulder holster, the belt 12 will not be used; however, two straps must be attached to the holster, one being at the lower corner 16 and the other being at the upper rear corner 18 of the holster 10. To attach the straps to the corners 16 and 18 of the holster 10, a pair of loops 19 and 20 is attached, by sewing or the like, to the body of the holster 10; and, buckles 21 and 22 respectively are held by the loops 19 and 20. It is these buckles 21 and 22 that need to be removed when the holster 10 is worn on the hip, using the belt 12 through an elongate loop 11.

The buckles 21 and 22 are formed alike, and the buckle 21 is shown in detail byway of example. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings, the buckle 21 includes a U-shaped member having parallel, coextensive arms 24 and 25 of substantially equal length which are joined on one extreme end by a connecting member 26. The opposite end of the arm 24 is provided with an eye 29 having a hole 30 therethrough to receive a post 31. The opposite end of the arm 25 has an eye 32 similar to the eye 29, 'but having an internally threaded hole 34. There is a post 31 which has an enlarged head 35 on one end thereof; the head 35 will not pass through the hole 30 in the eye 29. The opposite end of the post 31 has threads 36 to match the threads 34 that are in the hole in the eye 32. It will be understood that the eyes 29 and 32 are axially aligned; and, the hole 30 in the eye 29 is sufficiently large for the threads 36 as well as the body of the post 31 to pass therethrough and to rotate therein, while the threaded hole 34 in the eye 32 is such size as to receive the threads 36 of the post 31 in threaded engagement.

Substantially midway of the length of the arms 24 and 25 there is a pivot shaft 38 that extends between the arms 24 and 25 substantially perpendicularly thereto, and is attached to both arms 24 and 25. A finger 39 has one end wrapped around the pivot shaft 38 as indicated at 40, the wrapping being sufficiently loose for the finger 39 to pivot about the pivot shaft 38. The finger 39 is long enough to extend from the pivot shaft 38 and to lie over the member 26 that connects the extreme ends of the arms 24 and 25.

It will now be seen that when the buckle 21 is to be attached to the holster 10,. the post 21 will be rotated to disengage the threads 32 from the threaded hole 34 in the eye 32, and the post will be removed from the eyes 29 and 32. The arms 24 and 25 will then be placed on each side of a loop, such as the loop 19, with the eyes 29 and 32 aligned with the opening 41 in the loop 19; then, the post 31 will be pushed through the hole 30 in the eye 29, through the opening 41 in the loop 19, and into the threaded hole 34 in the eye 32. The post 31 will be rotated to engage the threads 36 with the threads in the threaded hole 34 that is in the eye 32.

The buckle 31 will then be attached to the holster 10. The buckle itself is designed to receive a conventional strap having holes therein, as is well known in the art. The strap will be placed through the buckle in the area defined by the connecting member 26, the pivot shaft 38, and the arms 24 and 25. The finger 39 will rotate out of the way to allowthe strap to pass therethrough; then, the finger 39 can be rotated against the strap to be received by a hole 42 in the strap.

It will be seen that the buckle 21 is equally easy to remove from the holster 10. One must simply rotate the post 31 until the threads 36 are disengaged from the threads of the threaded hole 34 in the eye 32 and pull the post 31 to remove it from the hole 41 in the loop 19, and from the hole 30 in the eye 29 of the arm 24.

It will thus be seen that the present invention provides a holster that can be used either on the hip of a person, or can be worn as a shoulder holster with the barrel of the gun disposed vertically with the butt of the gun toward the persons waist. When the holster is to be worn on the hip, the buckles 21 and 22 can very easily be removed for the holster so there will be no danger of the buckles interfering with the persons hand when he is reaching for the gun.

The buckle by which the arrangement is made possible is designed to be very simple and inexpensive to manufacture yet to provide very efficient and rapid connecting and disconnecting means to attach or remove any number of buckles to or from the holster 10.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the particular embodiment of the invention here shown is by way of illustration only, and is meant to be in no way restrictive; therefore, numerous changes and modifications may be made, and the full use of equivalents resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as outlined in the appended claims.

What is claimed as invention is:

1. Means for carrying a hand gun having a holster, said holster including a pair of substantially triangular side pieces joined together to provide an open top, a spring member disposed on both sides of said open top and tending to urge said two side pieces toward each other, an elongate loop on one of said side pieces, said elongate loop being adapted to receive a belt therethrough, a muzzle stop between said side pieces to limit the insertion of a hand gun into said holster, a first loop attached to said holster adjacent said bottom and said front, a second loop attached to said holster adjacent said back and said open top, a first removable buckle received by said first loop, and a second removable buckle received by said second loop, both said buckles including a pair of arms, each of said arms having eyes at one end thereof, said eyes defining holes that are axially aligned, a post to be received by said holes in said arms, and means for retaining a strap at the opposite end of said arms, whereby the holster is supported solely by either a belt passing through the elongate loop, at which time the buckles are removed, or by the buckles in absence of the belt passing through the elongate loop.

2. In a holster to removably receive a weapon through an opening therein, an elongate loop disposed on a side of said holster and adapted to removably receive a belt therethrough, a first loop attached to said holster remote from said opening, a second loop attached to said holster adjacent said opening, a first buckle removably received by said first loop, and a second buckle removably received by said second loop, whereby said holster is supported solely by either a belt passing through said elongate loop, at which time the buckles are removed, or by the buckles in absence of said belt passing through said elongate loop.

3. A holster according to claim 2 wherein the holster includes substantially triangular side pieces joined together along a slanted edge so as to provide an openable closure at an opposite edge and said opening between said edges said front edge remains in a substantially closed position until the weapon is removed by pressure against said openable closure. Y

4. A holster according to claim 3 wherein said first and second buckles include opposing arms, a pivot shaft, a strap retaining finger pivotally attached to said pivot shaft, said shaft centrally communicating with the interior surfaces of said opposing arms of said buckles, and a loop engaging post threadedly attached to the terminative portion of one arm after passing through the eye defined by the terminative portion of the opposite arm of said buckles.

5. A holster according to claim 3 wherein said holster includes a spring member disposed on opposite sides of said opening and of said opposite edge tending to urge said two side pieces toward each other retaining said weapon.

6. A holster according to claim 4 wherein said holster includes a spring member disposed on opposite sides of said opening and of said opposite edge tending to urge said two side pieces toward each other for frictionally retaining said weapon.

for frictionally References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 54,504 5/1866 Cissna 24-178 257,443 5/ 1882 Huntress 24-178 981,292 1/ 1911 Lewis 2242 2,001,321 5/1935 Berns 2242 2,037,132 4/ 1936 Hoyt 2243 FOREIGN PATENTS 707,200 6/ 1941 Germany.

GERALD M. F ORLENZA, Primary Examiner. J, OLDS, Assistant Examiner, 

1. MEANS FOR CARRYING A HAND GUN HAVING A HOLSTER, SAID HOLSTER INCLUDING A PAIR OF SUBSTANTIALLY TRIANGULAR SIDE PIECES JOINED TOGETHER TO PROVIDE AN OPEN TOP, A SPRING MEMBER DISPOSED ON BOTH SIDES OF SAID OPEN TOP AND TENDING TO URGE SAID TWO SIDE PIECES TOWARD EACH OTHER, AN ELONGATE LOOP ON ONE OF SAID SIDE PIECES, SAID ELONGATE LOOP BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A BELT THERETHROUGH, A MUZZLE STOP BETWEEN SAID SIDE PIECES TO LIMIT THE INSERTION OF A HAND GUN INTO SAID HOLSTER, A FIRST LOOP ATTACHED TO SAID HOLSTER ADJACENT SAID BOTTOM AND SAID FRONT, A SECOND LOOP ATTACHED TO SAID HOLSTER ADJACENT SAID BACK AND SAID OPEN TOP, A FIRST REMOVABLE BUCKLE RECEIVED BY SAID FIRST LOOP, AND A SECOND REMOVABLE BUCKLE RECEIVED BY SAID SECOND LOOP, BOTH SAID BUCKLES INCLUDING A PAIR OF ARMS, EACH OF SAID ARMS HAVING EYES AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID EYES DEFINING HOLES THAT ARE AXIALLY ALIGNED, A POST TO BE RECEIVED BY SAID HOLES IN SAID ARMS, AND MEANS FOR RETAINING A STRAP AT THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID ARMS, WHEREBY THE HOLSTER IS SUPPORTED SOLELY BY EITHER A BELT PASSING THROUGH THE ELONGATE LOOP, AT WHICH TIME THE BUCKLES ARE REMOVED, OR BY THE BUCKLES IN ABSENCE OF THE BELT PASSING THROUGH THE ELONGAE LOOP. 